Princess Pumpkins

It's Halloween and for the fourth year in a row we carved two princess pumpkins. Marina chose Snow White (probably because of the costume I wore to the Zoo). I wanted Rapunzel. It was a but of work to get them carved, even with a pattern. Marina didn't want to help at all. One of Snow White's eyes wasn't quite right and Rapunzel looked a bit demonic, but overall, they weren't bad.

Princess and the Pirate

We went for our annual trip to Boo at the Zoo with our friends Jen, Madi and Noah. This year I dressed up as well. When Marina heard I was dressing as Snow White, she wanted to as well. Once she realized we only had on headband for the costume, she agreed to wear her Elizabeth Swann costume.

We arrived at the Zoo after lunch. While we were there, Marina colored a tote bag, posed with Star Wars characters, watched a magic show and rode the train and carousel. She didn't get as much candy as previous years, but she had a good time.

After we left the zoo, we went to church for a chili cook off and costume contest. Marina had a good time playing with her friends from church. And when she found out that my chili didn't have any votes, she got a voting token so it would have one. She's so sweet.

We went home and watched Snow White and the Seven Dwarves on DVD. It was the perfect way to end the day!

A Wild Time!

Marina and I had a discussion this morning about what to do today. We ultimately decided to go to the Wildlife Museum. We went there in the spring, but we haven't been back since. So, we went after lunch. They have a Mastadon exhibit there now. We looked at giant teeth and jaws from ancient sharks. Marina wasn't as interested in looking as I was. From there we went to see environments from around the world. Marina was most interested in the Coral Reef and the fish that are projected on the floor. We watched a live snake demonstration where she got to touch a real snake. She went into the play area for a while. Then we went to the theater to watch a film about dolphins. We enjoyed popcorn as we watched. Once the movie was over, we headed home. It had been a fun visit.

A Day at the Museum

Marina is on Fall Break this week. Today we decided to go to the Museum. We invited Miss Judy to come with us. They have a temporary dinosaur exhibit we hasn't seen yet, so we went there first. It had some pretty impressive animatronic dinosaurs as well as Sue – the most complete T-Rex skeleton ever found. Marina wanted to go quickly through it but Judy and I held her up.

From there we went into the Ancient Egypt exhibit and dinosaurs. In each exhibit, Judy shared her considerable knowledge with Marina.


We stopped for lunch and then headed to the health exhibit, where Marina and Judy tried every station. There weren't many people there, so we got through easily.

Marina wanted to go the the kid's area. There she showed Judy the wind tunnel and she learned about magnets from a Museum volunteer. There were no kids at the dinosaur dig site, so she spent a long time there uncovering an Allosaurus. 

We looked around in the gift shop and I bought Marina a bag of sparkly rocks. She was quite pleased with that!

Halloween Amusement

Marina and I got one more use out of our amusement park season passes. The park is open through Halloween. Marina wore her costume and we went. We started on the Carousel. Then we had to walk through a mock graveyard to get to the rest of the park. Marina was a bit uneasy about it, but she did it. We went to the kid's area. A trick or treat trail was set up through there. She didn't get much candy, but it made her happy. We saw a special Halloween show. She rode some of the rides – including the kid's roller coaster, her favorite. We went out into the rest of the park. We rode the Sea Dragon and Tilt-A-Whirl, then we stopped for a funnel cake for a snack. We went back to the kid's area where Marina rode more rides. We rode the Ferris Wheel before heading home. Such a beautiful day in October!

Halloween Dress Rehearsal

After I picked Marina up from school, we went to the Halloween Dress Rehearsal Party at the Disney Store. She put her costume on over her clothes and we headed into the mall. Marina kept telling me she was “so embarassed” walking through the mall in her costume. Once we got there she was fine. One of the cast members asked her, “Are you Elizabeth Swann?” Marina happily nodded. She wanted to be a pirate this year, so naturally she was a Disney pirate queen! The party was a bit disorganized, but she had fun anyway. They played a few games, watched a video of Rapunzel's coronation and marched in a costume parade through the store. She got a few small gifts, which she loved. When the party was over, Marina busied herself looking through the store. We bought a few ornaments for our princess Christmas tree before heading out.

Skating Princess

Marina was invited to her friend Madi's birthday party at a roller rink. I know Marina had been there before, but apparently she just held on to the side wall as she "skated." So, for the first time in 25 years, I put on skates and helped her. I was impressed at how much she learned in just a few hours. And I managed to not fall down either! She only wanted to go once around the rink each time, but I think she still had fun. She enjoyed the skating so much she didn't even eat cake!